Drawbar anchor



July 22, 1941'.

H. E. VAN DCRN D RAWBAR ANCHOR 2 'sheets-sheet 1 Filed March 15; 1939 Patented July 2.2, 17941 DIRAWBAR ANCHOR Herbert E. Van Dorn, Chicago, Ill., assigner to The Dornvan Corporation, a corporation of Illinois Alplication March 15, 1939, seria1N9-26199 6 claims. (ol. 21a-62)' AfIThepresent invention relates to that type of draft gear forcouplingtogether cars which, as in the case of street railways cars,.are required ,tov make sharp turns; the coupling head being therefore required to swing across substantially the entire width of the end of the car at which it is located and being required to move up and down and to turn about a longitudinal axis, to compensate for the varying conditions existing in the connection between two cars that are coupled together. The drawbars in these installations may be mounted to swing about pins at the centers of the longitudinal bolsters or be supported at their rear ends by anchoring castings. The present invention relates to the latter type of mounting for draft gears and has for its object to produce a simple, novel and rugged anchoring means which shall be serviceable foran indenite length of time, which shall not get out of order easily, which shall make it easy to mount the rear end of the drawbar and againto remove it when desired, and which, while providing a direct support from the main casting underneath the'drawban leaves ample room for pipes, cables and other accessories underneath the same.

The lvarious features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for afull understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in,

connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a draft rigging and anchor embodying the present invention, the coupler being shown in outline by means of broken lines; Fig. 2 is a side view, on a larger scale of the-rear end of the drawbar and the anchor; Fig. 3 is a section on a still larger scale on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing only the upper portion of the anchor; Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1 on the same scale as Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, l represents a steel casting in the form of a heavy rectangular plate having a central depression 2. The wall 3 forming the side of the rear half of the depression is continued down past the floor II of the depression, as indicated at 5, for a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of a drawbar; the semi-cylindrical depending shell thus produced being reenforced by means of radial gusset-shaped ribs 6 extending from the exterior of the same up to the body of the plate I. Projectingforwardly from the lower end of the wall 5 is a shelf 'I the middle portion of which extends well forward of the vertical axis about which the wall 5 is curved. Extending up through the wall 'I and the wall or floor 4 is a pin 8 of large diameter. The pulling and bui'ng stresses to which the drawbar is subjected are transmitted in the first instance from the drawbar to this pin and then from the pin to the anchor casting. In order to prevent the anchor casting from becoming rapidly worn in serve ice, I iit into the openings in the walls l and 4,

`through which the pin passes, hardened steel bushings 9 and IQ in which the pinis a nice t.

The pin 8 has at its upper end a screw-threaded section Il upon which is screwed a nut I2 that rests upon the wall d or, rather, upon a low hub- .like portion I4 projecting upwardly at the middle of this wall. Instead of providing the pin with a head, in the manner of an ordinary bolt, I form in the lower end a plurality of sockets `|5 adapted to receive elements on a suitable tool for turning the pin. In this way I am able to avoid any p-rojection below the bottom of the shelf l. Since it is necessary that the nut be held against rotation while the upper end of the pin is being screwedinto the same, I have provided itwith oppositely disposed radial arms or projections I6 and Il, respectively. The arm I8 is adapted to extend through a hole in a ledge I8 rising from the face of the hub I4 in rear of the pin; while the arm I'I, which is longer than the other arm, projects at its forward end into an opening I9 -in the front side of the depressed portion 2 of the anchor plate. The parts are so proportioned that before the'pin is screwed up into the nut, the nut may be shifted laterally toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 4, to free the arm I6 from the ledge I8 and thus permit the nut 'to be lifted out of the depression in the casting.

Since the nut must be held against unscrewing accidentally, I provide it and the screw-threaded portion of the pin or bolt 8 with transverse openings 20 that may be brought into alignment with each otherwhen the nut is tight o n the bolt. A long round rod 2l is inserted through these aligned openings and through openings in the sides ofthe depressed top portion 2. The rod 2| may be held in place by means of suitable cotter pins 22 extending transversely through the same at opposite ends.

The drawbar is composed of a rear ring-like sectionV 24 having a forwardly-projecting stem 25,

and a main section including the coupler shank 26 and a spring housing 21; the stem 25 extending into the spring housing which is rotatable about the same to permit the coupler to turn about a longitudinal axis. The particular drawbar illustrated is one disclosed in my prior application, Serial No. 259,492, with the exception of the section 24 which, in the present instance, is made continuous instead of in two pieces.

Pressed into the central opening in the drawbar member 24 is a ball race 28 having a cylindrical exterior, and divided vertically into a plurality of parts. In the arrangement shown, the Iball race is made in two equal parts fitting together at their edges 29, as best shown in Fg.v5. The ball race is in the form of a sleeve the bore of which is a spherical surface flattened at the upper and lower ends. Within this spherical cavity is fitted a ball 30; the ball being flattened at the top and at the bottom, and the distance between the flattened faces being somewhat greater than the height of the ball race, so that the ball projects somewhat above and also below the ball race and the drawbar. height of the ball is such that the ball is a nice t between horizontal bearing faces on top of the shelf 1 and on the under side of the wall 4, respectively, The ball has a cylindrical opening extending through the same from the top to the bottom; the diameter of this opening being substantially the same as that of the pin or bolt 8 so that the pin or bolt may be easily inserted in or removed from the opening and yet be a good fit inthe latter.

By making the height of the ball somewhat greater than the corresponding dimension of the drawbar and race, the drawbar may rock up and down about the ball a limited distance before striking some part of the main casting. The area of the engaged surfaces between the ball and the ball race is much greater than the area of Contact between the ball and the pin or bolt so that it is of advantage to cause all of the wear due to angular movements of the drawbar to take place between the ball race and the ball instead of between the ball and the pin or bolt. I therefore key the ball to the pin or bolt so that it cannot turn about the latter. In the arrangement shown, the pin or bolt has a keyway 3l extending lengthwise thereof from the top downwardly below the center of the ball, while the ball has in the upper half thereof a similar keyway 32 which may be brought into registration with the keyway 3l when the bolt is inserted through the ball. Cooperating with these two keyways is a key 34. This key may be set into the keyway in the ball when the drawbar is slipped into the anchor casting. Then, when the pin or bolt 8 is moved upwardly from below,

after having been turned into the proper angular position, the key will enter the keyway 3| and will thus lock the ball and the pin or bolt together so that they cannot rotate independently of each other. I2 is placed in proper position to be engaged with the screw-threaded end of the pin or bolt when the latter is inserted; the pin or bolt is turned until the nut is tight; and then the locking rod or bar 2G is applied. In order to disconnect the drawbar, all that need be done is to take out the locking bar or rod and unscrew the pin or bolt and allow it to drop down. Thereupon, the drawbar may be slid forwardly or laterally clear of the anchor casting. In so disconnecting the drawbar, no part of the same becomes detached from the whole, unless it be the key 34. Even the .key will remain in place if it was initially driven into its keyway.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

In fact, l they In making the assembly, the nut 1. In combination, an anchor casting having two members lying one above and spaced apart from the other, a drawbar of a thickness about equal to the distance between said members extending at one end into the space between said members, a headless bolt extending up through said members and through the drawbar, a ball surrounding and keyed to said bolt against relative rotary movements, a socket element divided in a vertical plane having an external cylindrical surface coaxial with the bolt fixed in said drawbar and surrounding said ball, a nut on the upper end of the bolt, and means to anchor the nut to the casting and lock it to the bolt.

2. In combination, an anchor casting having two members lying one above and spaced apart from the other, a drawbar of a thickness about equal to the distance between said members extending at one end into the space between said members, a ball freely rotatable in said end of the drawbar, a headless bolt extending up through said members and through the ball in the drawbar, a nut on the upper end of the bolt, and means to anchor the nut to the casting and lock it to the bolt.

3. In combination, an anchor casting comprising a heavy plate having a depending semicircular flange or wall and a shelf forming a bottom for the space embraced by said wall, a heavy bolt extending up through said shelf and said plate, and a drawbar having an end resting on said shelf and embracing said bolt, said drawbar end being a ring-like part only a little smaller in diameter than said semi-circular wall.

4. In combination, an anchor casting having a depressed portion and a shelf lying at some distance below said depressed portion and secured at the rear to the plate, a drawbar having an end resting on said shelf; a bolt extending up through the shelf, through the drawbar and through the plate at the depressed portion; a nut on the upper end of the bolt;` the depressed portion having holes therein on opposite sides of the nut; and arms on the nut extending into said holes to keep the nut from rotating.

5. In combination, an anchor casting having a depressed portion and a shelf lying at some distance below said depressed portion and secured at the rear to the plate, a drawbar having an end resting on said shelf a bolt extendingup through the shelf, through the drawbar and through the plate at the depressed portion; a nut on the upper end of the bolt; the depressed portion having holes therein on opposite sides of the nut; arms on the nut extending into said holes to keep the nut from rotatingj and a rod extending through the nut and bolt, transversely of the latter, and through holes in the wall bounding the depression.

6. In combination, an anchor casting comprising a heavy plate having a depending semicircular ange or wall and a shelf forming a bottom for the space embraced by said wall, a drawbar having an end lying above said shelf, said drawbar end being a ring-like part only a little smaller in diameter than said semi-circular wall, a large ball fitted so as to be rotatable in the central opening in said drawbar end and resting on said shelf; and a heavy bolt extending up through said shelf, through said ball and through said plate.

HERBERT E. VAN DORN.A 

